The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has urged retail outlet operators and bulk road vehicle drivers to comply with regulatory requirements to ensure sanity in the country’s downstream petroleum industry.
The Director of Business Development at NPA, Mr. Godwin Yaw Konu, who made the call said practices such as sourcing fuel from unauthorised sources by dealers, operating without the requisite regulatory documentation, and fuel siphoning could undermine fuel quality and damage their corporate reputation. He cautioned that the NPA would sanction and prosecute offending Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) and their agents that engage in illicit petroleum activities.
Mr. Konu was speaking at the second edition of the NPA regional downstream compliance workshop held in the Central and Western regions from 30 June 2026 to 2 July 2026.
The workshop organized by the Business Development Directorate was aimed at educating fuel dealers and tanker drivers on the NPA compliance regime, understand their challenges and initiate measures to improve their operations.
Mr. Konu noted that the downstream petroleum industry contributes significantly to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). As such, petroleum service providers were very critical to Ghana’s economic development, hence the decision of the NPA to engage its stakeholders more often to remind them of the regulatory regime to ensure compliance across the petroleum value chain.
Touching on the recent rains. Mr. Konu urged fuel dealers to always check the water levels in their underground storage tanks to ensure the integrity of their products before selling to customers. That, he said, was crucial to avoid selling compromised petroleum products to customers and attracting public backlash. “Let’s maintain the integrity of the petroleum products we offer to consumers. It will benefit all of us”, he said.
For his part, the Head of Security and Intelligence at the NPA, Mr. Isaac Djagbetey, stressed the need for PSPs to source petroleum products from authorised depots to avoid sanctions. He urged fuel dealers to refrain from selling fuel for galamsey operations.
A Senior Manager, Retail Outlets and Premix Sites with the Inspections Monitoring & HSSE Directorate, Mr. Richard Apaloo, asked fuel dealers to maintain valid regulatory documents in compliance with all statutory requirements and to aid inspection by NPA officials.
The Head of Claims at the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) Directorate, Nana Afua Nuamah Bosumtwi, cautioned tanker drivers against tampering with the tracking systems installed in bulk road vehicles whiles encouraging them to ensure prompt delivery of relevant documentations to their transporters to facilitate timely processing of claims.
A Supervisor with the Quality Assurance Directorate, Mr. Adams Baba Adams, tasked fuel dealers to ensure quality of petroleum products offered to consumers to guarantee value for money and avoid damaging their vehicles.
The Head of Data Analytics and Market Intelligence of the Consumer Services Directorate, Ing. Johnson Gbagbo Jnr, urged the public to report bad experiences at the forecourt including suspected cases of fuel under delivery, product quality among others to the NPA within 48 hours to facilitate investigations.
Officers from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) provided fire safety tips and conducted fire fighting drills to deal with emergency.
Officers of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) encouraged the tanker drivers to respect other road users and adopt defensive driving techniques to prevent accidents on the roads to safeguard lives and property
